


A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

by BluebirdWrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, F/F, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, I'm gonna make that a tag dammit, Lance is there but Keith won't appear in person in this fic, Mentioned klance, Not a word for word Cinderella au, Pining, Pining Allura (Voltron), Sarcastic Allura, Shameless references to every adaptation of Cinderella known to man, With a smidge of angst, but the idea is there, like... a lot of pining, pidge plays matchmaker, pining romelle, the mice are a plot device
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-07-27 13:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16220273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebirdWrites/pseuds/BluebirdWrites
Summary: The citizens of Altea are hereby invited to the masquerade ball being held in honour of the 20th birthday of her Royal Highness Princess Allura. The ball is to be hosted at the pavilion in the woods. All eligible suitors may attend.Or:The very gay Cinderella fusion that five people asked for.





	1. The Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> So... I posted a couple of weeks ago on my tumblr about a hypothetical Cinderella au starring Romellura and the feedback was pretty positive, and since I’d rather do anything besides my homework I sat down to write this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked on tumblr about a romellura Cinderella au and the results were overall positive! Partly because I’m starved for more wlw content in fandom (and partly because I’d rather do anything other than the drawings due for religion) I sat down and wrote this.

_Hear ye! Hear ye!_

_The citizens of Altea are hereby invited to the masquerade ball being held in honour of the 20th birthday of her Royal Highness Princess Allura. The ball is to be hosted in the castle ballroom. All eligible suitors may attend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s not any actual plot in this chapter and I’m really sorry about that, but luckily I’ve got a long weekend and the next chapter should be up by the end of this week.


	2. I Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura daydreams about girls, Romelle wants to go to a party, and they both meet a... someone curious who seems fascinated with their wishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry about the lack of updates for a whole month so this chapter is a bit longer to make up for that! Plus I’ve got part of the third chapter done already.

  
Allura was daydreaming again. She couldn’t help it, really. Lessons were boring and the view of the sea from the window in the library was breathtaking. No matter how important the subject was, she’d always find herself dreaming up elaborate fantasies where she saved pretty maidens from all forms of danger. She was halfway through a dream about rescuing a girl with black hair and warm brown eyes from a band of pirates when a conspicuous cough snapped her out of it. Glancing up, she saw her teacher looking at her pointedly over the rim of his glasses.

“I take it you’re bored, princess?” He asked, amusement dancing in his eyes despite the stern set of his mouth.

Allura blushed and opened her mouth to defend herself when professor Wali cut her off “I’ll make you a deal, you answer this last question correctly and I’ll let you go, how’s that sound?”

She nodded eagerly. Professor Wali picked up the book closest to him and flipped to a random page “Contrary to popular belief, the cause of tension between the kingdoms of Altea and Daibazaal wasn’t the Balmera mines but?”

 _I just learned this! It was…oil, no gas… that’s it!_ “The discovery of an energy source known as quintessence directly on the border of the two countries” she answered.

Her teacher looked impressed but before he could respond, a stiff knock on the door interrupted them. Judging by the way he sat up straighter, blushed and starting tugging at his shirt, Allura had a pretty good idea of who was behind her.

Sure enough, a minute later she was wandering the halls, having decided to leave the professor and captain Shirogane alone while they discussed “an important issue” as the captain put it (but she made sure to give professor Wali an exaggerated wink on her way out). She’d just decided to turn back and seek out Hunk or Shay when she heard a faint sound, almost like a bell. Deciding that anything would be better than standing next to a painting of a bowl of fruit by herself, she followed the sound out to the garden and stopped next to a curious green flower. It was completely closed up, but when she leaned closer to it she heard a faint struggle and a tiny voice.

“Hey! Someone! Let me out!” the voice cried. Allura was no expert on gardening, but from what little she knew, ordinary plants weren’t supposed to do that. She quickly scanned the surrounding area for something she could use to break whatever was in the flower out. As far as the eye could see there were flowers in every colour imaginable and topiaries sculpted to look like the various types of fae that filled the woods in Altea, but nothing remotely sharp nearby except for a slightly pointed rock lying next to a hedge sculpture of a star faerie. She groaned.

“Uh, Hold on a minute, I’ll get you out!” She promised the flower. Internally, she felt grateful that Lance wasn’t due to come back for another week, he’d never let her forget about this.

“Please!” The little voice shrieked again. Allura picked up the rock, cut the flower’s bud loose and pried it open, out flew _a faerie a real live faerie._ They were small too, barely bigger than the palm of her hand. They fluttered around Allura’s head speaking too fast to comprehend.

“ThankyouthankyouthankyouitfeltlikeIwasinthereforever” they kept going before they calmed down a bit and started talking again, “Now, are you gonna make a wish or not?”

“Make a- a what? I don’t even know you!”

The faerie conjured a wand out of seemingly nowhere and put their hands on their hips, “My name is—” a jingling sound identical to the one that had led Allura out to the garden “— but you can call me Pidge, and now you know me so let’s get down to wishes! You’ve gotta have at least one thing you want more than anything, and I’ve got a magic stick here that can grant almost any wish you have. Except for murder. I don’t think I’m allowed to grant murder wishes.”

“Can you make all the books in the library mysteriously disappear so my teacher doesn’t have any new material?”

“See princess, I’ll grant any wish except that one”

“Can you speed up time so my birthday comes early and we skip the stupid ball tonight?”

“... I was born three days ago.”

Allura pondered for a while, she thought about her daydreams that almost always ended with girls declaring their eternal love for her after she rescued them from monsters and villains, and the way she felt jealous when Hunk and Shay started acting sickeningly cute, or the twist she experienced in the pit of her stomach when Lance described his romantic exploits from when he travelled. She knew what she wanted to wish for.

“Pidge, I wish… I wish to find love.”

Pidge grinned “Definitely, but you have to go to the ball for the whole night. So do we have a deal or…” they trailed off mysteriously, but Allura had been around Shay long enough to know that trick.

“We have a deal.” she finally answered.

Pidge shot her a wink, then disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

* * *

  
As always, Romelle awoke to the clanging of the temple bells. Every morning the bells were there, calling worshippers to predawn prayers and calling her to get ready before Lady Honerva and her son Lotor awoke. A mouse scampered over her pillow and curled up next to her head, she moaned and gently batted him away.

“I don’t want to get up either Platt, but the sooner I’m up and back from the market, the sooner breakfast is. If you go wake the others up, I’ll spare you a bit extra, deal?” While Romelle could never be sure if the mice understood her, they seemed to understand the words ‘Extra’ and ‘Breakfast’ just fine. Platt disappeared into a mouse hole while she slipped on her clothes, tied her hair up, and put on her shoes. The mice were sitting comfortably in her basket by the time she got to the kitchen, she laughed and covered them with a handkerchief.

The walk to the market place was uneventful, like always. Today she thought she’d practice her reading on one of the street signs in the market but it was covered by a fancy looking sheet of paper, _never mind then, the shopping first,_  she thought as she made her way over to the butcher’s shop. After almost eight years of gathering the groceries every morning, Romelle had the path through the market completely memorized even if she couldn’t read the grocery list, or any of the signs on the stalls and shops, or anything besides the word ‘cat’.

She picked her way through the crowd. First to the butcher’s shop for meat, then the beekeeper’s stall for honey, the fruit stalls, the cheesemaker (the mice twitched under their handkerchief), and finally to the bakery for bread. She was in luck today, the baker’s wife Nyma had slipped her one of the no longer fresh loaves from last night. As she exited the bakery, she noticed a crowd forming around the street sign she’d passed earlier. She was about to ask one of the stall keepers nearby what the fuss was about when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, Romelle was greeted with a pink lily and an all too familiar face.

“Lance!” She cried after she’d dropped her basket and pulled him into a tight hug “What are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to come back from your trip next week? What’s that paper say?”

Lance tucked the flower into her basket and laughed, “First, I came to bring my best friend a gift-“

“I thought you said Hunk was your best friend.”

“-He is, I have many best friends, it’s a gift. I came back early after an… incident and the sign is a notice about the ball tonight, everyone in the kingdom is invited.”

Romelle’s eyes lit up, “If everyone is invited then I can go too! Thank you, Lance! Goodbye!” With that, she scooped up the basket at her feet and hurried off. Lance chuckled as he watched her skip away. But he had a meeting with a certain princess that he just couldn’t miss, so he mounted his horse and made his way to the palace.

Romelle twirled her new flower between her fingers while she made her way home, her thoughts racing a mile a minute _A ball! A real ball with music and laughter and dancing! Surely Lady Honerva will let me go if the whole kingdom is invited! But what would I wear?_ So caught up was she in her thoughts about the ball that she hadn’t noticed she was home until she ran headlong into the gate while the mice squeaked in outrage from their hiding spot. She winced and fumbled in her apron pockets for the key.

“Please miss, could you spare me some food?” whispered a hoarse little voice to her left. When she glanced over she saw a child, no older than fifteen with matted brown hair and pale, dirt-flecked, bruise-covered skin stretched over stick-thin bones. Her heart ached for the poor creature.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much, but here.” she reached into her basket, pulled out the spare loaf Nyma had given her and passed it to the child “It’s all yours, you need it more than I do” she successfully dug her keys out of her apron and started fiddling with the lock.

“Thank you miss, you’re very kind,” the child whispered again “Do you have any wishes?” they asked nonchalantly.

The question caught Romelle a bit off guard “I’m sure everyone has a lot of wishes, and I have many wishes too,” she answered cautiously, “But right now, what I wish for more than anything is to go to the ball tonight,” the lock clicked open and Romelle rushed inside, shutting the gate with a loud _clang_ behind her and a “nice meeting you!” tossed over her shoulder.

Pidge waited until the girl was completely gone to drop their disguise. “I think I found the one!” they whispered victoriously before vanishing with a _pop_ and a shower of green-tinged sparks.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, for the longest time I struggled with fitting Pidge into the story in a way that didn’t feel too forced. Then my shitty brain said “Fairy Godpidge” and it was all over after that.


	3. Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura reunites with Lance, Romelle frets about getting her chores done and everyone prepares to attend the ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to apologize for the hiatus. Truth be told, I almost discontinued this fic after season 8, plus being busy with other stuff. But in the end, I decided to tough it out and write away the frustration. However, I have decided to change the story structure somewhat, so I've gone back to edit parts of the older chapters to reflect that. I don't remember if Kova's gender was ever specified in the show proper, so she's a girl here cuz voltron needs more empowered women
> 
> I'll be updating this fic for WIP Week! I'm hoping I'll be able to add at least two chapters by July, but if all goes well, it should be done by the end of the month!

     Allura _hated_ fittings.

 

     It was impossibly boring to stand still in a suffocating dress for hours on end and be prodded around by seamstresses. If it wasn’t for tradition forcing her to wear an impossibly puffy gown to her debut, she could be doing just about anything else right now. Even professor Wali’s history lectures were starting to sound more interesting. On top of the boredom, she’d only just begun to wrap her head around her encounter with Pidge that morning. It wasn’t the strangest thing Allura had ever seen -that honour went to the time Coran had a series of sentient carnivorous plants with bad attitudes planted around the palace garden to keep out intruders and promptly had to fight his way out of one that had swallowed him whole- but it was up there for sure. She was just about to call it quits and tell Plaxum to come back later when Shay burst in, excitement dancing in her eyes.

 

“Princess!” Shay exclaimed, “Lance is back!”

 

Allura gasped, her boredom evaporating like steam. Lance _never_ came back early and he definitely never came back unannounced. She quickly excused herself and rushed out the door and into the hall. It wasn’t until she tripped over her gown and came across the same suit of armour for the third time in a row that she realized she had no idea where she was supposed to be rushing to.

 

“Begging your pardon, your highness,” Shay’s voice cut through her panicky thoughts, “Lance is in Coran’s study.”

 

Oh, so she was going the wrong way. She gathered up her skirts and followed Shay.

 

When she finally arrived in the tiny study, Lance was talking to Coran and Hunk with his back to the door. The furrow of the regent’s brow and frown on Hunk’s face made her heart race. _What exactly,_ she wondered, _had Lance gotten himself into?_

 

Shay cleared her throat and the conversation stopped. “Pardon me for interrupting, sirs,” she said smoothly, “But I found her highness as you requested.”

 

Lance let out a tired sounding chuckle. “Thanks, Shay,” he said quietly.

 

Allura took a shaky step towards him. Then she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.

 

Lance stiffened, then sank into the embrace. “It’s good to see you, princess.”  He whispered.

 

“You’re not hurt are you? No curses or potions or troll run-ins?” Allura rambled aimlessly, less genuine questions, more the panic she’d felt earlier slowly spouting out of her.

 

Lance laughed again. “I’m not hurt princess,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “but I might... have kissed a faerie?”

 

The tension that had slowly drained out of the room came rushing back in the blink of an eye. Shay gasped, Hunk and Allura’s jaws dropped, Coran poured himself another cup of tea and settled into a chair.

 

“Woah, woah, woah,” Hunk cut in, “Lance you told us you got turned around in the north woods, you didn’t say anything about smooching mystical beings that sometimes fade into nothingness if they spend too much time around humans.”

 

“First of all Hunk, I was getting to that part. Secondly, where did you find out about the dissolving-into-nothingness thing? Because I only just heard about this now.”

 

Hunk shrugged, “Professor Wali told me one time.”

 

“Anyway!” Shay clapped her hands when she noticed Allura grumbling under her breath, “Lance was telling us about the part where he kissed a faerie.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Lance continued, “Anyway I had stopped to rest somewhere in the north woods when I saw this guy who kinda looked like he was in a hurry, I decided to follow him ‘cause there’s never anyone in those woods ya know?”

 

Allura had never been in the north woods, but Hunk and Shay were nodding along so she did her best to act like she understood.

 

“So as he’s rushing along I see him drop something that looks like a headband, I pick it up and head in the direction he was going so I can give it back to him, but once I finally catch up to him he seems to notice that his thing is missing.”

 

“And?” Shay prompted.

 

“He sees me holding it, grabs it right out of my hands, and kisses me out of nowhere! Next thing I know, I’m back on Blue and headed back to the capital,”

 

“... That’s it?” Allura demanded, “I was worried about romantic drama?”

 

“You were interested, don’t deny it!” Lance defended, “Let a guy get excited about a kiss with a faerie,”

 

“Of course, so tell me-” Allura’s gaze took on a mischievous edge, “-was it a good kiss?”

 

Lance shrugged, “I don’t remember, just that he knocked me out with his knife-thing in the process,” he rubbed a spot on his head, “It hurt too,”

 

“As thrilling as this discussion was, it will have to wait until later,” Coran interrupted, “Lance should inform his family of his return, Shay and Hunk have duties to return to, and Allura, you have a fitting.”

 

Allura bit back a groan.

 

* * *

 

Romelle hummed as she hurried around the kitchen, boiling water and tending to the bacon on the stove. Her mind buzzed with thoughts of the ball, of arriving in a gown decked with lace and ribbon, dancing the night away to a lavish band, and stealing a moment away from her family to have fun. Then the smell of burning meat drifted into her face and she yelped.

 

The door opened and Kova swaggered in, waiting expectantly by her dish. Romelle quickly piled the food onto the dishes resting on the counter and filled Kova’s saucer with cream. The cat stretched and watched her bustle about with breakfast for lady Honerva and her son.

 

The doors leading to the young lord’s bedroom were a rich and intimidating oak, as a child, Romelle had always been afraid of the room, creating elaborate fantasies of how it would devour anyone Lotor asked it to. But the passing years forced her to abandon the daydreams that brought her comfort in her youth. She knocked gently on the door, a tray perched on her arm.

 

“Come in, girl,” was the haughty reply. Romelle placed the tray on his bedside table and smiled brightly.

 

“How was your sleep, lord Lotor? Were your dreams pleasant?”

 

Lotor scoffed and picked up the teacup on his tray, “I have no use for silly daydreams, and even if I did I wouldn’t share them with you.”

 

 “Of course, my lord,” Romelle curtsied, “forgive my misstep,”

 

Lotor merely pointed his chin in the direction of a pile of laundry. Romelle scooped up the pile and hurried out of the room.

 

The next stop was lady Honerva’s room, Kova now at her heels. When she quietly opened the door, the lady of the house was already awake and sitting up in bed. Her sharp golden eyes seemed to glow in the sliver of light the windows let in.

 

“Good morning, child,” lady Honerva said. Kova trotted away from Romelle and leapt onto her mistress’ bed. Romelle swallowed hard, she had to be polite or she’d never even get the chance to ask about going to the ball.

 

“Good morning lady Honerva,” she stammered. The tray she carried shook, so she set it down carefully.

 

“You seem more jittery than usual, spit out whatever you have to say.”

 

“Well my lady,” Romelle began, “There’s supposed to be a ball tonight, and since the whole kingdom is invited, I was hoping that I could go too?”

 

“A ball,” lady Honerva mused, “For whom?”

 

“The princess,” she squeaked.

 

“Well, I see no reason why you can’t go, if-” Honerva’s usually smooth voice took on a sharp edge, “You’ve done all your chores and found something suitable to wear.”

 

Romelle nodded eagerly, “Of course my lady!”

 

“Then get started, girl,” lady Honerva said, sounding bored, “You’ll have to your usual chores as well as having to prepare outfits for the ball for my son and I, wash the floors, dust the portraits, clean the draperies-”

 

“Pardon me, my lady,” Romelle cut in meekly, “I cleaned the draperies yesterday.”

 

“You did a shoddy job, clean them again!” her mistress snapped. “And of course, Kova will need a bath,”

 

Romelle dared not say anything else, but it felt like lady Honerva had piled on extra tasks simply to prevent her from finishing at all before midnight. Yet she had to hope, she dashed from the room to begin.

 

Many hours later, Romelle stood behind lord Lotor, pinning his long silver hair according to the illustration he’d shoved at her. 

 

“Why so glum, girl, are you upset you won’t be going to the ball?”

 

“A royal ball is no place for a servant girl like me,” Romelle replied, “Besides, I have nothing to wear,”

 

“Indeed,” Lotor preened in the mirror, “I can’t have my family’s reputation soiled by letting some illiterate servant coming along to moon at the civilized folk, think of what they’d say!”

 

Romelle shoved the last bejewelled pin into his hair a little rougher than needed, taking no small amount of pleasure at his exaggerated wince. “You’re ready to go, my lord.”

 

Lady Honerva was waiting for her son in the carriage, her deep maroon ball gown took up most of the space available, yet Lotor squeezed in with seemingly little trouble. 

 

“Why child, it seems you aren’t ready to come with us,” she smirked, the sentiment not matching her smug tone.

 

“I’m afraid not, my lady,”

 

Honerva waved a silk-gloved hand dismissively, “Have tea prepared by the time we return.” was all she said as the driver flicked the reins and the carriage left the drive. Romelle returned to the house. 

 

Inside, the mice presented her with a small piece of cheese they’d snatched from somewhere. She shook her head sadly.

 

“There’s no need to worry, it’s just a stupid ball, watching all the stuffy nobles glaring down their noses at each other and kissing up to the princess seems like a very boring night,” Romelle sniffed, “And of course, even if I tried to dance, I’m sure all I’d succeed in doing is stepping on my partner’s toes,” tears welled up in her eyes, “I suppose I’m not very good at lying am I?” 

 

Chuchule ran up to her and she scooped her up. When she finally sank to the floor, she was sobbing. 

 

Then there was a knock at the door. She brushed aside her tears and rushed to answer it. There was the child she’d given bread to that morning, except somehow not, as before her eyes, the child transformed into a tiny faerie clad in green. Romelle gasped.

 

“Are you my faerie godparent?” she demanded.

 

The faerie shook their head, “Nope, I’m way too young for godparent status, I’m just here to get you to the ball,”

 

Romelle stared at the faerie, dumbfounded, “But I have nothing to wear,”

 

One shower of green sparkles later, her ragged serving dress had transformed into a magnificent pale pink gown, with tiny blue flowers threaded through her hair and a white mask, on her feet were delicate glass slippers. 

 

Romelle stared at her reflection in the hall mirror, “How am I supposed to get there? There’s only one carriage at this estate, and it’s gone for the night,”

 

The faerie looked around, hands on hips, wand tapping their chin, “Well you have a strong team of horses right here!”

 

She looked around, “But it’s just me and the mice,”

 

“Bring them outside for a moment,”

 

Romelle did as she was told, the next second, Plachu and Chulat squeaked in alarm as they transformed into a pair of snowy white horses. Then Plat and Chuchule shot up in size and their faces became rounder, next thing she knew, there was a pair of footmen standing in front of her. 

 

“You have no idea how much this means to me!” Romelle exclaimed, “But what about the carriage?”

 

“See that pumpkin over there?”

 

“It’s just a pumpkin,”

 

“And your team of footmen and horses were mice up until five seconds ago,”

 

That was true, Romelle rushed to the garden to clear a path to the pumpkin the faerie had been pointing at. Once they waved their wand it became an elegant golden carriage, with her mousy team of horses and footmen hooked up and ready. 

 

She gaped in awe, but the faerie pushed her into her coach and shut the door. 

 

“I’ve done what I can, now go, because the spell wears off at midnight,”

 

“Thank you!” Romelle cried as the carriage vanished into the night, “I’ll repay you one day!”

 

She sat at the edge of her seat, excitement making her squirm, _she was going to the ball!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't @ me about the plant thing it just seemed like something Coran would do
> 
> Also, I'm gonna infodump about Hunk, Shay Shiro, Adam and Lance's roles in this AU because their roles won't be examined in depth in this fic but I love them and might explore them in future works:
> 
> Hunk is a knight in training and a childhood friend of Allura's. He's been engaged to Shay for about a year now.
> 
> Shay is the younger sister of a diplomat from the Balmera region northwest of Altea. She decided to accompany her brother so she could study and eventually take up his post once he resigns. She and Allura are best friends. 
> 
> Shiro is the youngest ever captain of the garrison, an elite team of knights tasked with defending the palace. He took the post after their last leader, Iverson, retired.
> 
> Adam is a scholar as well as Allura's teacher. While history lectures aren't his forte, he's a good teacher and Allura enjoys learning from him.
> 
> Lance is another childhood friend of Allura's. He isn't sure what he wants to do yet, so he's taken to travelling around the land and studying the various magical creatures in Altea and the surrounding countries. The study of faeries is especially interesting to him given how elusive they are.
> 
> And yea the faerie that kissed Lance was Keith. That's it, that's the sum total of Keith in this fic and my justification for tagging klance (also I wanted exposure and klance is the only tag that gets any traffic these days).
> 
> Next chapter is the ball! It's gonna be really gay I promise


End file.
